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Calgary Herald

Braid: Separatism is a ruse; the real battle for autonomy is fought with UCP legislation

Article content What the government owns it can also sell. AHS alone has 380 land titles and 700 structures. Article content The UCP flatly denies any such intention. But the government will be strapped for cash as low oil prices threaten a deficit far higher than $5 billion. Article content From now on, public health policy and management will be run by the health department. Regional public health officers, now employed by AHS, will work directly for a minister (if they still have jobs at all). Article content The UCP government will have an iron grip on controversial policies and programs, including vaccination. This is a political takeover of a medical matter. Article content The legislation also repeals references to health regions and Alberta Health Services itself. Hospitals and private surgery clinics come under the authority of new minister Matt Jones. Article content Article content On the federal front, the province is being shaped into a spearhead aimed at Ottawa. The UCP is amending a pile of legislation to make this happen. Article content Article content One example is Bill 45, the Critical Infrastructure Amendment Act, which claims control over every economic area Ottawa has power to regulate. Article content Oil and gas and other economic assets are designated as critical. The bill prohibits Ottawa from collecting data that relates to an emissions cap or new projects. Article content Earlier amendments to the Alberta Firearms Act have the same basic purpose. They say that only Alberta agents have control over firearms seizures. Article content This drive extends far beyond political demands for Prime Minister Mark Carney to approve pipelines and scrap the emissions cap. Article content The real fight is down on the ground, where legislation pulls Alberta ever farther away from the federal system. Article content